Liu Lin sighed and, dismissing other thoughts, prepared to turn back.

However, at that moment, amidst the apparent lull in the battlefield, Yue Fei, Liu Lin, and many soldiers simultaneously noticed a small boat approaching from the southwest… In truth, the boat was too conspicuous, and the appearance of the person on board was too bizarre.

Small boats were never scarce on Liangshan Marsh. Even when the main force surged in, many terrified fishermen could be seen hiding in the reeds. After the fighting began, many small boats came and went, observing the situation, perhaps to watch the excitement or gather information… The Jin army had noticed this early on but didn't take it seriously.

In fact, Liu Lin's mention of Liangshan bandits earlier stemmed from this. The officers at Wanyan Seli's headquarters generally believed that the Song army had indeed contacted the Liangshan Marsh bandits, but only as a backup plan, hoping those bandits would come to their aid. However, the battlefield was intense, and the Jin army was strong, so they were afraid to come out.

But unlike the previous small boats, which often observed the battle situation from several miles away and then quickly hid in the reeds, this strangely shaped, nimble boat continued steadily, paddling all the way from the depths of the marsh to the so-called Suotou (Shrinking Head) Beach, barely a hundred paces from the Jin army on the shore, just beyond the range of bows and crossbows.

By this time, many Jin soldiers near the shore on the left, instead of firing arrows, couldn't help but burst into laughter… Because only when it got close did everyone notice the ridiculousness of the boat emerging from the reeds on the left and the person on it.

The so-called small boat looked more like a raft, with a very small and dilapidated boat in the middle, and a sharpened piece of wood tied to each side of the boat's hull, giving the appearance of a raft made of three logs… Extremely crude.

As for the person, he was even more interesting.

It was early spring, with hot days and cold nights, so the man was wearing an old, tattered red cotton-padded jacket, but his chest was bare. That would have been fine, but more shockingly, he was wearing a large silk red flower in his hair!

In the Song Dynasty tradition, wearing flowers was common. The top scholar would wear flowers while parading through the streets on horseback. Even in ordinary cities, some frivolous young men, boasting of their fair skin, often wore flowers and tattoos to show off their appearance… So much so that in the Jianghu world, there were often "Flower of Daming Prefecture" so-and-so, and "Flower of Jinan Prefecture" so-and-so, who were as famous as "Nine-Dragon Tattoo" or "Eight-Phoenix Tattoo."

However, back to the present, this fisherman, about thirty years old, with a dark complexion tanned by the sun and wind, looking more like forty, with a tuft of black hair on his chest, wearing an oily, tattered red cotton-padded jacket, and personally rowing such a broken boat, with a large red flower in his hair, was undeniably laughable.

Initially, it was the Jin people who laughed, but seeing this man maneuvering the boat with such agility, easily turning to the side of the small beach, even the Song soldiers who recognized him couldn't help but snicker.

"Commander Yue!"

Liu Lin watched for a long time and initially wanted to retreat, but seeing this scene, he couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Is this your reinforcement?! Is this what you relied on to lure our five thousand Jin troops here today?!"

Yue Fei watched Zhang Rong row past him from two or three hundred paces away, calmly raised his head, and retorted loudly, "Do you look down on him?!"

"I understand. Commander Yue wants to use this person to laugh to death the five thousand troops on this beach today!" Liu Lin shook his head repeatedly, abandoning the idea of communication and preparing to ride away.

However, just as he reined in his horse, he suddenly heard a wolf-like howl from the lake, almost startling him off his horse. After regaining his balance, he realized that the red-flower man had started singing a fisherman's song in public. The man's voice was unpleasant, and the tune wasn't initially raised, but after a trial note, he raised his voice, and it finally had a hint of Jianghu flavor, and the vulgar lyrics became clear.

As the saying goes:

"Grandpa was born in Liangshan Marsh, with a nature born to kill.

I've chopped down faithless Han, and killed officials in Dongjing!

Heroes don't read books, they only live in Liangshan Marsh.

Although born with a rogue's body, I only kill bandits, not people!"

The song was clearly taken from a common fisherman's tune, with the word 'that' added to each phrase as a transition, and a drawn-out cry at the end of each verse as a conclusion… Not necessary for a boatman rowing and exerting force.

Yue Fei stood on his horse in the increasingly clear puddles in front of the formation, trying to follow the loud song from far behind, circling from left to right, from near to far, and from far to near, but remained motionless.

On the other side, Liu Lin was slightly startled, and after recovering from the wolf-like fright, he quickly turned around to report to Wanyan Seli.

"Not surrendering?"

"Not surrendering."

"As expected." Wanyan Seli rarely sighed. "But I truly admire his ability and wanted to bring him in as an assistant."

"Me too…" Liu Lin thought silently but didn't say it out loud.

"Since that's the case, let's not talk about it anymore." Wanyan Seli regained his composure and pointed to the so-called flower-wearing man who was steering the boat and singing, circling back from the other side of the beach. "What's the deal with this person?"

"It should be that the bandits in the marsh are somewhat righteous, and a leader came out to give that Yue guy an explanation." Liu Lin didn't take it seriously. "We guessed right before, the Song army must have contacted the bandits in the marsh, but what are those bandits? How dare they fight our army? They must have been timid and afraid to approach, and didn't even dare to send out a rescue fleet."

Wanyan Seli nodded repeatedly, but watching the boat gradually turn back from the right, he felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was, and he actually froze there, feeling a little flustered.

At this time, while they were talking, the boat was extremely nimble and had gradually approached, and the singing could be heard again.

As the saying goes:

"Grandpa was born between heaven and earth, not afraid of the court or officials.

I cast a net in the marsh, trapping turtles and tortoises inside!"

The song was clear and loud, echoing endlessly on the water, but many Jin soldiers on the right side of the beach couldn't understand the local dialect and only thought the man's appearance was ridiculous, reacting the same way as the Jin soldiers who had seen him on the left side, constantly laughing.

However, amidst the singing and laughter, Wanyan Seli was surprisingly silent, wasting the opportunity to attack. In the central army, all four Meng'an (chieftains) personally came to ask, but they only saw the battle-experienced clan general standing on his horse in a daze, lost in thought.

"General!"

Liu Lin asked carefully. "It's time to order a general attack!"

"Something's not right!" Wanyan Seli confessed frankly. "That man is not right!"

"That man is just a water rogue, deliberately making himself ugly. There have always been such characters in the Jianghu world!" Liu Lin quickly persuaded. "If you get startled, you'll fall for his trick!

"Young Master Liu is right." A Jurchen Meng'an couldn't help but interject. "If we lose the battle opportunity because of such a water clown, wouldn't the general become a laughingstock? It's almost dark. If we can't take down this Song army, and water bandits surround us, and we retreat in a panic, wouldn't we be branded as having lost the battle?"

Wanyan Seli thought long and hard, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong, and he began to suspect that he was being paranoid, so he had to nod and order, focusing the elite troops for a continuous hard assault, making sure to break the Song army before sunset!

Hearing the order, the Jin army swarmed forward, many people running and riding, splashing countless water droplets that reflected the sunlight along with their armor, creating a magnificent sight!

Seeing this scene, Wanyan Seli's feeling of unease surged again, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was… For a moment, he almost wanted to order the entire army to retreat immediately, but reason ultimately prevailed over emotion.

The battle resumed, with the Jin army pressing forward, and the two sides began to fight in the water that reached up to their shins. With each death, countless water droplets splashed up, quickly re-dyeing the previous blood pool red… This time, Yue Pengju simply dismounted and led hundreds of his *tabai* (white horse) cavalry forward on foot!

Therefore, although the Song army's formation gradually showed signs of decline, it still managed to hold the Jin army at the narrowest point.

Wanyan Seli, watching this scene from afar, felt extremely agitated. Turning his head, he saw the strange boat appearing on his left rear side, continuing to sing.

Instantly, the Jin clan general's vigilance intensified, and he was completely drawn to the man. Because he couldn't hear the man singing amidst the sounds of fighting in front, Wanyan Seli actually chose to abandon the command flag and ride his horse to the beach on the left rear, stopping in the shallow water to listen to the man's song.

This time, he clearly heard the lyrics again.

As the saying goes:

"Grandpa was born between heaven and earth, not seeking wealth or officialdom.

Living a lifetime in Liangshan Marsh, eating and drinking like an immortal.

One day the Jin people came to Jizhou, killing my brothers and destroying my fields.

Today they come to the marsh again, how can I let them live?"

Hearing this, not only Wanyan Seli, but also Liu Lin became vigilant. They exchanged a glance and both saw a different kind of confusion in each other's eyes… Obviously, since they had come to the marsh to fight, they had both guessed that the Liangshan Marsh bandits would come to the aid of the Song army, so they weren't too surprised by the man's stance and the possibility of a water attack. However, they both sensed an unnatural danger from this man and his boat, but they couldn't explain it.

But they couldn't think too much. As the man steered his boat far in front of the reeds and then gave a long fisherman's cry, 'Ai Hou!' the sound heavily landed! In the reeds on both sides of the entire Suotou Beach, there was a thunderous echoing cry, as if thunder was rumbling!

It really was like thunder!

Thousands or tens of thousands of people shouted together, repeatedly vibrating on the vast water surface, immediately startling the fighting Jin and Song armies!

Wanyan Seli and Liu Lin were in an optimal position to witness a spectacular sight – in the setting sun, thousands of small boats surged out of the reeds, each with only three or five people, but like cavalry emerging from the forest, they rushed towards the beach with irresistible force, like thousands of horses galloping, charging into battle.

Wanyan Seli gasped and quickly turned his head to look. Sure enough, on the other side of the beach, in the depths of Liangshan Marsh on the right side, the small boats emerging from the reeds were no less than those on this side, and there were countless large boats in the rear, rolling in!

In total, there were no less than tens of thousands of ambush troops on both sides!

"Retreat!" Without time to think, Wanyan Seli, galloping back to the center of the flag, made the most reasonable decision. "We must not engage in night combat with water bandits here!"

This time, as the flag waved wildly, no one, whether Meng'an or central army officer, objected, because the scene of thousands of people responding to the fisherman's song was too shocking! The visual impact of this scene was truly alarming!

The Jin army hastily retreated and reorganized, while the Song army, under Yue Fei's command, abandoned the pursuit and instead chose to retreat and rest.

After a while, as the nimble small boats approached, the Jin army also completed their remounting, and in the setting sun, thousands of iron cavalry immediately turned the rear army into the front army and galloped along the way they had come.

But the next scene that unfolded subverted the common sense of Wanyan Seli and even all the thousands of Jin soldiers!

Under the leadership of the red-jacketed, flower-wearing man, hundreds of strangely shaped small boats, like water cavalry, launched a flanking charge against the retreating cavalry at the bottom of the gourd!

When cavalry collide, quality, speed, and sacrifice can determine the outcome in an instant!

And without a doubt, the victor was bound to be the strangely shaped boats, because the knights on the boats could jump into the water… Countless crude small boats, after the drivers suddenly jumped into the water in the deep-water area, still maintained a certain speed forward, using the two sharp wooden spikes in the shallow water at that bottleneck to collide with the Jin army's warhorses and knights, with men and horses falling over, boats shattering, blood and flesh blurred, and groans and cries constantly, creating a scene like a sea of blood and hell.

"Why is there suddenly water there?" Seeing this scene, Wanyan Seli, his heart tightening and his scalp tingling, was terrified and immediately drew his sword and asked around menacingly. "I wanted to ask just now, why could that boat suddenly go from the left to the right, and then from the right to the left? The bottom of the gourd is clearly land! You can ride horses in! Right?!"

Most of the Jin officers beside him had lost their minds. Only Liu Lin came back to his senses, wanting to say something, but he opened his mouth several times without making a sound.

"What do you want to say?" Wanyan Seli's expression changed drastically, and he directly pressed the knife against the other man's neck.

"Tide… The tide… The tide is coming!" The pitiful Liu Lin, a seven-foot-tall man, actually broke down in tears. "I didn't expect this lake to be so big that it could rise and fall like the sea!"

Wanyan Seli was a smart man. Hearing this, the knife in his hand became unsteady and actually fell to the ground. Obviously, familiar with the rising tide of the sea, he thought of an extremely terrifying possibility!

"No wonder it's called Shrinking Head Beach!"

On the small beach in the distance, the exhausted Fu Xuan spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the already wet sand and stones under his feet, then cursed angrily. "Damn it, doesn't this bird beach get completely submerged when the tide comes in the middle of the night? Otherwise, why call it Shrinking Head Beach? Wouldn't Gourd Beach sound better?!"

Yue Fei, standing on his horse, glanced back at the other man without answering, because at that moment, seeing that the wooden raft boats had successfully blocked the Jin army's return path, the Liangshan Marsh bandits, led by someone, began to sing that local fisherman's song again.

"Grandpa was born between heaven and earth…"

The song was rough and the lyrics were barbaric, but it was the most organized and most shocking song Yue Fei had ever heard in his life!

ps: Today is Great Cold, good night, sleep well!